Santa Ysabel Preserve West Trail

Santa Ysabel Preserve West Trail is a 5.7 mile lightly trafficked loop trail located near Santa Ysabel, California that features beautiful wild flowers. The trail is rated as moderate and primarily used for hiking, walking, trail running, and horses. Dogs are also able to use this trail but must be kept on leash.

DISTANCE

5.7 miles

ELEVATION GAIN

1253 feet

ROUTE TYPE

Loop

dogs on leash

hiking

trail running

walking

horseback riding

views

wild flowers

wildlife

The Santa Ysabel Preserve-West is located between Santa Yasbel and Ramona about 40 miles northeast of San Diego.
Portions of the trail are steep. Numerous oak trees populate the hills with several picnic tables on the trail.
If the entire preserve is open hikes can be extended to 8.5 miles
The 5,312 acre Santa Ysabel Open Space Preserve, located in the extremely scenic mountains between Santa Yasbel and Julian about 40 miles northeast of San Diego. While fire roads exclusively make up the designated trail system here, you will most likely not mind at all as the beauty of the place makes up for the lack of singletrack options. The rolling open grasslands and oak groves remind me a great deal of Northern California. You can get in just under 20 miles of bike or horseback riding if you do all of the loops and out and back sections.

This is a gorgeous trail! High grassy hills dotted with huge shady oaks. A lovely stream to cool your feet with nice shady areas to take a break. No switchbacks here! Just straight ups and downs with a few steep climbs like a big roller coaster. We didn't spot any buffalo just a lot of cows.We had lunch after our hike right down the hill in Santa Isabell which made for a very nice day.

Make sure you are ready for a cardio filled adventure. The scenic view surrounding the trail are breathtaking. Very active wildlife, including hawks, squirrels, lizards, deer, and crows. The cattle were comfortably grazing around the creek and in the trail path. I even stumbled upon a Gopher Snake just sunning itself in the trail path as well. There are several picnic benches to stop off at along the way if you need a rest. I absolutely loved this trail.

I'm ready to get down on one knee and propose to this hike....I loved it!!!Saw plenty of wildlife, including: squirrels, frogs, ladybugs, golden eagles and we heard birds with a song very similar to R2-D2.There are a couple of very, very steep spots on the way back, especially the hills closest to the creek. Some wonderful soul propped up a board to allow creek-crossing without having to remove your shoes. Because of the extra cardio, we had the confidence to order that slice of pie at the nearby cafe :-).

Hiked this trail for the first time today and thoroughly enjoyed it. The scenery and views are beautiful. Enjoyed the oak trees too. A board had been placed across the creek so that it's passable. The trail provides a good workout as it is quite steep at a few points as it meanders through rolling hills. Probably not a hike I would do in Summer except early in the morning as much of the trail is not shaded but will definitely be back again.

Nice hike. Beautiful scenery, some steep sections of trail. Trail is more of a fire-road, wide and open. Was in a little rough condition from all the rain, but not bad. Creek is flowing heavily and bridge is washed out. Scenery was great, we were even able to see the ocean in one spot.

Defiantly some steep rolling hills. Little creek was flowing after all our rain, which was nice to see. Ran into some guys filling in some holes getting ready for the rains to come. Great to see our trails being taken care of. Thanks to all those who do take care of the trails.